BJP MP Varun Gandhi’s rallies in Uttar Pradesh have started making senior party leaders increasingly restive.
The young MP’s growing popularity and his speeches that are designed to cater to the Hindu voters are fast turning Varun Gandhi into a much-in-demand leader which, in turn, has set alarm bells ringing in several party camps.
His growing popularity can be gauged from the fact that during his Lucknow visit last week, more than 30 district presidents and a dozen party MLAs fell over each other to meet him. Each one had the same request — a rally in his or her constituency.
Later, at a function at the BJP headquarters to welcome the newly-appointed state BJP president, Surya Pratap Shahi, Varun Gandhi stole the show when he announced that statues of Mayawati would be replaced with those of Lord Ram when the BJP comes to power. The statement won a thunderous applause and leaders who later tried to distance themselves from the statement, came in for sharp criticism from the rank and file.
“Our leaders have conveniently forgotten Lord Ram and now when Varun Gandhi is trying to talk about it, these leaders are putting a spoke in the wheel. Ab aisa nahin chalega—jo Ram ki baat karega , wohi dil par raj karega,” said a party worker present at the meeting. The BJP MP, in the past few months, has addressed massive rallies in Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Sultanpur and Jaunpur. There are 20 more such rallies being planned in various other districts of UP in the coming months and almost all of them are being organised, not by the party’s state unit, but by individual leaders.
“At the moment, Varun Gandhi is the biggest crowd puller in the party,” said one of the BJP MLAs.